Electronics and technology blog    /    Materials for January 2017 year

About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article about a homemade (well, almost) electronic load, and I’ve finally decided to take the project further.

Today I’ll talk about the simplest kind of power supply—more specifically, how to calculate its capacitor value and choose the right type. I’ll also suggest some better options for low-power supplies.

Today I’m going to tell you about a small charger that doesn’t quite live up to its advertised specs, even though it’s put together pretty well. Teardown, tests, conclusions—as always.

I came across some small protection boards for packs made from two lithium batteries, so I decided to put together a little review—or a big photo dump, whichever you prefer :)

I've handled quite a lot of different power supplies, but every now and then I come across an epic case that I just have to tell you about.

With this short article, I’m starting a series about repairing various devices that occasionally end up on my workbench. The first article will be about repairing a 5 V, 60 A power supply. I’m also planning to publish articles for beginners, so I’d be interested to know what readers would like to learn about.

I came across a rather interesting wireless keyboard the other day—or, to be more precise, a keyboard + remote + learning remote + air mouse. Today, I’ll tell you about this four-in-one device in my review, and of course show you what it looks like both inside and out.

A few months ago, I finally "moved" to a new computer, and during the "break-in" period I ran into a problem caused by the nature of my work. Inspection, tests, and an explanation, as always, after the jump.

About a year ago, I published an in-depth review of a thermal imager. It’s an interesting and very useful device. Then, while browsing the website of a Chinese store, I happened to come across a very attractive price for this instrument.

A while ago, a friend asked me to help him buy components for a scrolling text display, which he wanted to use to spruce up his little shop. We'd only ever seen them at other places, so we started figuring out how to put one together. We picked what we wanted, I placed the order, got everything, and decided to try it out at home first. There'll be an inspection, a teardown, and some tinkering with various bits of hardware—as usual :)

I got my hands on a small TV box, but this one isn't based on the usual Amlogic chip. Instead, it uses a Rockchip, which has become less common lately. I came across it by chance and hadn't originally planned to review it, but since I have it, I decided to give you a quick rundown. A look around, tests, teardown, conclusions—same as always.

About a year ago, I reviewed a mini PC with a built-in screen called the PIPO X9, and I really liked it. Today I'm reviewing the next model in this series of computers, the PIPO X10.

Not long ago, mini PCs based on the new Intel Pentium N4200 system-on-chip (SoC), built around the Apollo Lake core, were announced. The “first swallow” has landed in my hands. I’d been waiting for it for a while, since I was eager to get my hands on the new hardware :) Let’s test it, take it apart, and compare it with other mini PCs.

Not long ago, I wrote a review of TrustFire 14500 and 18350 batteries. At the time, I also mentioned that I’d ordered another size, but it had gotten stuck somewhere in transit. The batteries I ordered arrived recently, so I decided to put together a quick mini-review of them.

And now a mini PC based on the new and yet already familiar x5-Z8350 SoC has landed in my hands. It’s new because it was released relatively recently, and already familiar because processors based on this core have been in production for almost a year and a half. I’ll say right away that this computer had a few surprises in store. But let’s take it one step at a time: we’ll inspect it, test it, open it up, and see if we can improve it.

This is the kind of product I'd put in the “saw it, wanted it, bought it” category. That's exactly what I did when I spotted it about a month ago. I already have a similar little enclosure and use it quite a lot, but after getting another hard drive, I thought it would be a good idea to make backups of backups of particularly important data. There's not much to take apart or test here, so this will be more of an extended photo show-off :)

Some time ago, a friend asked me to write a review of one of his products. Yes, don't be surprised, it happens :) And now I've finally gotten around to reviewing it. Unfortunately, links to some of the products are no longer active, but I think the review will still help you figure out what’s what.